The Digital Walters

W.538, Gospels

Abstract

This Gospel Book was produced at the end of the katholicate of Grigor IV (Tłay) at the monastery of Pawłoskan in Cilicia. The principal colophon on fols. 311r-313v dates the manuscript to 1193 CE (642 AE), and the patron, Bishop Karapet, a resident at the court of Grigor at Hromkla, is recorded in the dedication on fol. 12v. The colophon also records the siege of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, the Third Crusade (1189-1192) and Frederick Barbarossa's attempt to reclaim Palestine, and Barbarossa's death in 1190. The canon tables and the Eusebian letter within quatrefoil frames are decorated with architectural elements, geometric designs, floral motifs, and birds. The codex is further illuminated with historiated and inhabited initials forming the incipits of the Gospels and marginal decoration.

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